Investing.com - The pound ticked up and down between small gains and losses against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, following the release of U.S. data on initial jobless claims and economic growth as concerns over Spain’s borrowing costs weighed on risk appetite.
GBP/USD hit 1.5860 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5889, inching up 0.02%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5841, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5963, Wednesday’s high.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000 last week, disappointing expectations for a decline of 14,000 to 350,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 364,000 from 348,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 20 of the past 22 weeks.
A separate report showed that the U.S. economy grew by 0.3% during the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
But market sentiment remained downbeat on the back of concerns over high Spanish borrowing costs ahead of the government’s budget statement on Friday, amid fears that the government will fail to implement harsh austerity measures to slash the country’s deficit, in the face of public unrest and a looming recession.
In the U.K., the Bank of England said earlier that mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level in more than eight months in February, falling to 48,986 down from 57,899 the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.K. house prices posted the largest monthly decline in more than two years this month.
The reports came just one day after official data showed that the U.K. economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, more than preliminary estimates for a 0.2% contraction.
The pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.30% to hit 0.8355.
Meanwhile, investors continued to look ahead to a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Friday, amid expectations that they would agree on a larger debt firewall to combat the debt crisis in the region.
GBP/USD hit 1.5860 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5889, inching up 0.02%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5841, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.5963, Wednesday’s high.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000 last week, disappointing expectations for a decline of 14,000 to 350,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 364,000 from 348,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 20 of the past 22 weeks.
A separate report showed that the U.S. economy grew by 0.3% during the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
But market sentiment remained downbeat on the back of concerns over high Spanish borrowing costs ahead of the government’s budget statement on Friday, amid fears that the government will fail to implement harsh austerity measures to slash the country’s deficit, in the face of public unrest and a looming recession.
In the U.K., the Bank of England said earlier that mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level in more than eight months in February, falling to 48,986 down from 57,899 the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.K. house prices posted the largest monthly decline in more than two years this month.
The reports came just one day after official data showed that the U.K. economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, more than preliminary estimates for a 0.2% contraction.
The pound was higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.30% to hit 0.8355.
Meanwhile, investors continued to look ahead to a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Friday, amid expectations that they would agree on a larger debt firewall to combat the debt crisis in the region.